Slashdot Mirror
Google's Transition To 64-Bit Apps Begins in August, 32-Bit Support To End in 2021 (ndtv.com)
In a bid to deliver better software experience on devices powered by 64-bit processors in the coming years, Google aims to shift Android towards a 64-bit app ecosystem. From a report: The company has now shed more light on the transition and has announced that developers will have to submit a 64-bit version of their Android apps starting August this year. This move will eventually culminate in a universal implementation of the 64-bit app policy that will be enforced in 2021, after which, Google will no longer host 32-bit apps on the Play Store accessed on a device based on 64-bit hardware. Google announced the move towards 64-bit apps in 2017, claiming that apps with 64-bit code offer significantly better performance. However, the search giant did not provide any details regarding the exceptions to the new rule or when the Play Store will cease to serve 32-bit apps. Google has now revealed that starting August 1 this year, developers must submit 64-bit versions of all new apps and app updates, alongside the old 32-bit versions prior to their publishing from the Play Store.
Not all android apps use the dalvik VM. You can create native android applications in c/c++. As well, you might link native libraries even if you're using the dalvik VM.
If there was ever a case for actual use of the x32 ABI, performance and memory restricted devices with 64bit processors in a controlled ecosystem would definitely be it.
Most people aren't going to be needing 64bits for memory on an Android device any time soon -- rather than letting it be pulled from the kernel, the why not push for performance and efficiency in the areas where it still actually counts?
Hire a Linux system administrator, systems engineer,
Why would you have thought this? Apps have used C and C++ libraries using the Android NDK for nearly a decade.
For desktops and servers: AMD64, AArch64 and RISC-V 64-bit.
For mobiles and embedded systems: AArch64, ARM, RISC-V 32-bit and RISC-V 64-bit.
The architecture i386 is dead, nobody wants it.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3, which has a 32-bit processor. In fact, the first 64-bit CPU in the series was with the S6. The S5 is still a very nice phone. It would be a shame if something happened to it's apps. It's particularly annoying if I want to install something that I know I had on it once, but it says it's no longer compatible, and the older compatible version is long gone.
I fully understand wanting to have everything work in a 64-bit only world, but at the same time, they should strive to avoid obsoleting older equipment without good reason.
We have to get rid of 32 bit support to prepare for the future 128 bit systems.
Like it or not, there will be systems using 32 bit by then. Being embedded systems and legacy apps. It's time to fix the problem now instead of just "dropping support" but making 32 bits work in the future.
That's not strictly true... I've compiled and run plenty of command line executable apps on Android no problemo. It's when you want to make full fledged apps that draw graphics on the screen and are launchable from the Android home screen that you'll be compelled to compile as a library and use a dalvik launcher.
Even then, it's not strictly required, although Google would like you to believe it to be. "YAFT" (yet another framebuffer terminal) seems to do everything including drawing on the screen without any Java.
Because this isn't just about the NDK.
For desktop PCs, support for 32-bit has been winding down for some time now, so it's no surprise that mobile computing would do the same. It has taken me a couple years, but I've completely transitioned all of our home desktop and laptop PCs to 64-bit hardware and operating systems. The only 32-bit desktop PC I have is an old 80486-based system that runs Windows 3.1 just for nostalgia (my first PC). 32-bit has had a good long run, but everybody knew the age of 32-bit computing would eventually come to an end, just as the ages of 16- and 8-bit computing declined and ended. Someday, 64-bit will be obsolete as well.
about you and your obsession with antique junk
You think my phone's an antique? You should see my laptop: it's a W520!
Seriously, thoough, I'm old enough at this point in my life to know what's important to me. A lot of people are all about the sexual appeal of their possessions - "blinging" cars, phones, watches, etc. I lift weighs and rock climb, I'm well spoken, and I'm good in bed, so I'm able to "get away" with last year's fashion.
For the reasons stated in my original comment, I'm not really interested in trading in my old, uncool "antique" for something hip n'trendy.
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
Dude, Dalvik is gone and has been for a long time. It's Android Runtime now, or ART. It's toooooooooootally not just Dalvik with a name change so Google can try to ditch its reputation.
Oh, for sure. I've written a few native apps. :)
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
Commodore 64 was sooooooo ahead of it's time.
Its good that your opinion is both wrong and ineffectual.
Wha.. how does that follow?
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
It's a shitty compromise, but Linux Deploy with a debian image does work remarkably well. :/
I do miss my old Nokia N900 with Maemo.
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
Ultimately the Dalvik layer is making c language graphics calls to the kernel layer. All you need is permissions to do the same, and adb has permission (last time I checked). I think most games don't go through Dalvik either, using jni, but I haven't checked.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
I love it when the android fanbois bring up the small amount of ram in iOS devices; as if maximum ram utilization was the thing we should optimize for in mobile devices.
Humph.
The person who modded me down - I know you can't reply as yourself, but can you reply as anonymous? I'm genuinely curious: do you work for the industry? What's your beef?
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
Well yeas and no it daves a bit of energy nor neding to access flash to often bur since we ate talking dram and not sram (correct me Iâ(TM)m wrong) we have ram refreshes thst ate not free energy wise. Whst takes more energy , I have no idea
I'll take 2 of those over 1 privacy rape phone any day!!
Only 19 years to go until Y2038 hits on 19th January 2038.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Note 64-bit systems greatly help to avoid Y2038 failures but anything using 32-bit time may fail or may have limitations.
Ever noticed that you can't set Android's date past 2036 ? I guess this is to ensure that Y2038 issues are not hit. I wonder whether 64-bit Android removes this limitation ?
So has Android, since v5.0. This is about ending backwards compatibility with 32 bit apps.
Basically there seems no other way to stop people from continuing to sell Android 4.x-based phones.
Claiming 64 bit code is faster than 32 bit? False, it is slower for many common operations.
If I had a dime! ;p
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
*shrug*
Never really run windows.. but there's several orders of magnitude between 386/486 -> modern CPUs, and very little between Note 3->recent devices.
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
Eh, crap. Sorry hahah. This is a meme isn't it?
I haven't had much time to follow the meme culture lately. :(
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
Go onto https://myactivity.google.com/ and tell me how good you think your Android spyware device is.
No it wasn't. But it did have a nice music chip.